Athenaeum
/ˌaθɪˈniːəm
/(US also Atheneum)
noun
1Used in the names of libraries or institutions for literary or scientific study: the Boston Athenaeum...
- The city art gallery project, which involved the construction of new galleries and the linking of two existing buildings - the Royal Manchester Institution and the Athenaeum - was a triumph.
- Tomorrow there will be an Anglo-Japanese evening at the Athenaeum and on Wednesday the usually quiet library will be alive with the sounds of a folk band.
- It was held at the Athenaeum, in Warminster, a few years ago and I went along.
1.1Used in the titles of periodicals concerned with literature, science, and art.Published in 1897, his novel Dracula received mixed reviews, summed up in the Athenaeum's grudging praise that Stoker's object, ‘assuming it to be ghastliness, is fairly well fulfilled’....
- Apparently, word around the rumour mill was that he used to date a journalism major who wrote a weekly column for the Atheneum.
1.2 (the Athenaeum) A London club founded in 1824, originally for men of distinction in literature, art, and learning.
Origin
Mid 18th century: via Latin from Greek Athēnaion, denoting the temple of the goddess Athene in ancient Athens (which was used for teaching).